US president Donald Trump says Syria attack 'could be very soon or not so soon at all'
Updated
US President Donald Trump has cast doubt over the timing of his threatened strike on Syria in response to a reported chemical weapons attack on civilians, saying it "could be very soon or not so soon at all".
Trump had vowed to take swift and decisive action against Syria since reports of a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel enclave that killed dozens of people.
Syria's President, Bashar al Assad, said a possible attack on his country could trigger regional instability.
"With every victory achieved on the field, the voices of some Western states are raised and actions are intensified in an attempt by them to change the course of events ... these voices and any possible action will contribute nothing but an increase in instability in the region, threatening international peace and security," Mr al Assad said according to Syrian state television.
Damascus has denied responsibility for the incident that has widened a rift between the West and Moscow, which backs Syria's Government.
On Wednesday, even though Mr Trump had previously said he would not "broadcast" his moves in Syria, he said in a post on Twitter that missiles "will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'".
His latest tweet, on Thursday evening, said: "Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!"
However, US Defence Secretary James Mattis struck a more cautious tone later on Wednesday, saying that Washington was still assessing intelligence on the suspected toxic gas attack.
Syrian hotline open
As tensions mount between the US and Russia over a possible US strike, the Kremlin said a crisis communications link with the United States meant to avoid an accidental clash over Syria was being used by both sides.
The Kremlin was speaking as British ministers planned to gather to discuss whether to join the United States and France in a possible military attack on Syria that threatens to bring Western and Russian forces into direct confrontation.
Asked whether the so-called deconfliction line between the Russian and US militaries for Syria was being used to avoid potential Russian casualties in the event of a US strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters:
"The line is used and it is active. In general the line is used by both sides."
Mr Peskov said the Kremlin was closely following Syria-related announcements from Washington and reiterated a Kremlin call for restraint.
"We continue to consider it extremely important to avoid any steps that could lead to more tension in Syria," Mr Peskov said.
"We believe that would have an extremely destructive impact on the whole Syria settlement process."
Reuters/ABC
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, international-law, world-politics, donald-trump, united-states, syrian-arab-republic, russian-federation
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